Package for Tobacco Industry Products

ABSTRACT

A package ( 1 ) for tobacco industry products comprising an aperture ( 7 ) configured to receive a flavour carrier ( 3 ); and one or more flavour release elements configured to physically interact with the flavour carrier upon insertion of the flavour carrier into the aperture so as to cause the flavour carrier to release flavour into an internal region ( 3.1 ) of the package for impregnating the contents of the package with the flavour.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a package for tobacco industryproducts. Particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to apackage for cigarettes or other smoking articles in which a device isincluded in the cover of the package for application of an essence to asubset of the smoking articles packaged therein.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

As used herein, the term “tobacco industry product” refers to any itemmade in, or sold by the tobacco industry, typically including a)cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, tobacco for pipes or for roll-your-owncigarettes, (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expandedtobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes); b) non-smokingproducts incorporating tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco,reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes such as snuff, snus, hardtobacco, and heat-not-burn products; and c) other nicotine-deliverysystems such as inhalers, lozenges and gum. This list is not intended tobe exclusive, but merely illustrates a range of products which are madeand sold in the tobacco industry.

As used herein, the term “smoking article” includes smokeable productssuch as cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos whether based on tobacco,tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobaccosubstitutes and also heat-not-burn products. The smoking article may beprovided with a filter for the gaseous flow drawn by the smoker.

As used herein, the terms “flavour”, “flavourant” and “flavourizer”refer to materials which, where local regulations permit, may be used tocreate a desired taste or aroma in a product. They may be imitation,synthetic or natural ingredients or blends thereof They may be in anysuitable form, for example, oil, liquid, or powder.

The tobacco industry traditionally commercializes smoking articles suchas cigarettes in traditional packages, which are usually one of twotypes of packages, known as soft-cup type packages and box typepackages. The soft-cup type package is normally made with a low-grade(weight per area) type of paper and the box type package is normallymade with a sturdier grade (higher weight per area) type of paper (atype similar to cardboard). Conventionally the cigarettes or othersmoking articles contained in a particular package all have the samesensory characteristics, thereby restricting a consumer to cigarettes orother smoking articles with identical characteristics.

It would be desirable to provide consumers with the option to increasethe variety of available smoking articles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, there is provided a package for tobaccoindustry products comprising an aperture configured to receive a flavourcarrier; and one or more flavour release elements configured tophysically interact with the flavour carrier upon insertion of theflavour carrier into the aperture so as to cause the flavour carrier torelease flavour into an internal region of the package for impregnatingthe contents of the package with the flavour.

The aperture may be in a cover of the package.

The aperture may comprise a slit having dimensions substantiallymatching those of the flavour carrier.

The aperture may comprise a pair of rail elements configured to guidethe flavour carrier into the aperture.

The flavour release elements may comprise grooves in the apertureconfigured to rupture the surface of the flavour carrier to cause arelease of flavour.

The package may comprise an internal partition which separates aninternal volume of the package into first and second regions forcontaining first and second subsets of tobacco industry products.

The partition may be configured to prevent flavour released from theflavour carrier from passing between the first and second regions of thepackage.

The aperture may be located adjacent one of the first or second regionssuch that, upon flavour being released from the flavour carrier, flavouris released into the region adjacent the aperture.

The package may further comprise the flavour carrier.

The flavour carrier may comprise a flavourant on its surface.

The flavourant may be contained in microcapsules at a surface of theflavour carrier, the microcapsules being rupturable upon contact withthe flavour release elements to release flavour into the package.

The flavour carrier may be a chip or card with dimensions substantiallymatching those of the aperture.

The package may comprise a plurality of smoking articles which can beimpregnated by the flavour release to cause a change in the flavour ofone or more of the smoking articles.

According to the invention, there may be provided a package foraromatizing cigarettes, comprising a cover, a chip impregnated with aflavor and a rear section, wherein the cover comprises a slit of thesame width as the chip and two rail elements to keep the chip secured toa lower part of the cover, wherein the said slit comprises grooves thatdamage the chip upon insertion of the chip into the slit, therebycausing tears to open a number of microcapsules comprised in an ink onthe chip, thereby releasing flavour from the microcapsules onto thecigarettes stored in a portion of the package.

The cover and the rear section may comprise a rigid material and may behingedly joined by a hinge portion located at the back or rear part ofthe package.

The package may comprise a first region intended to be impregnated withflavour and a second region that is not supposed to be impregnated withflavour, in order to allow the impregnation of a flavour into one ormore cigarettes in the first region, such regions being separated by athin rigid wall which, upon the cover being closed, keeps the tworegions separate by hermetic sealing, thereby avoiding the impregnationof flavour from the first region into the second region.

The invention relates to a tobacco industry package which includes acover provided with a system for releasing flavour into the package. Thesystem may allow a user to actuate the flavour release at a momentselected by the user, as explained below. The flavour may be releasedfrom a flavour chip or card, and the cover may be adapted to store theflavour chip or card. The cover may be hinged and the card or chip mayhave dimensions which are similar to those of a “chip” or “SIM card” ofthe type used in cellular telephones. The said chip or card may beprovided with a finishing which contains a special type of ink or othersubstance comprising microcapsules containing differentflavourants/flavourizers such as menthol.

The cover may have a slit with grooves, and upon the chip or card beingintroduced into the slit the grooves may be configured to tear open themicrocapsules containing the ink or other substance. By this action, theflavours previously contained in the chip or card may be released to theinside of the package and may impregnate the cigarettes or other smokingarticles or tobacco industry products positioned in a region of thepackage. The flavours may for example impregnate smoking articles in aregion of the package which is located directly under the card or chip.The region into which the flavours are released may be separated fromthe rest of the internal region of the package by a separation partitionwithin the package.

In this manner, the invention may facilitate a release of flavouringinto a subset of the cigarettes or other smoking articles or tobaccoindustry products contained in the package, thereby allowing theconsumer to consume a first subset of smoking articles or other tobaccoindustry products with their original flavour characteristics, andhenceforth to consume one or more second subets with various differentflavours.

The present invention relates to a package intended to flavour, byimpregnation, a one or more of the cigarettes or other smoking articlescontained therein by means of the use of a special “chip” or card whichuses a special ink comprising microcapsules filled with a specialflavourizer. Upon inserting the chip or card into the cover of thepackage through a slit provided with grooves in the cover, themicrocapsules are torn and release the flavourizer to an internal partof the package wherein are contained a given number of cigarettes orother smoking articles. Upon the released flavourizer permeating to thecigarettes or other smoking articles, the latter become impregnated byits flavour, thereby altering the original characteristics of thecigarettes or other smoking articles and providing a special flavourthereto.

The present invention relates to a package for cigarettes that comprisesa cover provided with a system for storing a substance or substances ina chip or card in a given part of the cover. The said chip or card, inturn, is provided with a finishing comprising an ink impregnated withmicrocapsules containing various different flavourizers/flavourants.Upon introducing the chip or card into the cover, protrusions located atthe inlet through which the chip or card is inserted will scratch“tears” therein, releasing the flavourizers/flavourants contained in themicrocapsules and allowing the impregnation of the respective flavoursinto the cigarettes or other smoking articles stored in a selected partof the main package.

The main package may comprise a first internal region made separate fromthat of the remaining cigarettes or other smoking articles in order toallow that only a part of the cigarettes or other smoking articles beimpregnated. A flavour barrier is provided to separate this first regionfrom a second internal region of the package in which the smokingarticles which are not to be impregnated are contained. The barrier maybe in the form of a wall or other suitable means for preventingflavourizers/flavourants released from the chip or card from enteringthe second region of the package. The maximum number of cigarettes orother smoking articles to be impregnated would be the maximum number ofcigarettes or other smoking articles able to be physically contained inthe said second region.

The cover can be joined to the back or rear wall of the package, and maybe hinged to pivot around an axis formed by the intersection of thecover with the upper end of the back or rear wall of the package.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

For exemplary purposes only, embodiments of the invention will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

In FIG. 1 there is shown a view of a cover for a tobacco industrypackage with a flavourizer chip or card inserted therein;

In FIG. 2 there is depicted a cross-sectional end view of the assembledpackage including the cover, the chip or card inserted in the cover andthe main body of the package containing a plurality of cigarettes. Apartition divides the main body into first and second internal regions.

FIG. 3 represents an upper or plan view of the package with the chip orcard partially inserted into the cover. Also shown is the location ofthe partition, which is an internal separative barrier between the firstand second internal regions of the package for preventing impregnationof the cigarettes in the second region with the flavourizer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a package 1 of a type intended to contain twentycigarettes. The package 1 comprises a cover or lid 2 which is configuredto receive a flavour carrier such as a chip or card 3 comprising and/orimpregnated with a flavourant or flavourizer. The package 1 alsocomprises a main body in which can be contained tobacco industryproducts such as smoking articles. The main body of the package 1comprises a first region 3.1 and a second region 3.2 that is separatefrom the first region 3.1. A partition 4 between the first 3.1 andsecond regions 3.2 for restricting the impregnation of the flavour to asubset of cigarettes, for example those contained in the first region,is also provided. This is explained in more detail below. The first andsecond regions 3.1, 3.2 may be substantially equal in size, for examplevolume, or may be different. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, thesecond region 3.2 may be larger than the first region 3.1 and maytherefore contain more cigarettes than the first region 3.1.

The package 1 also comprises a rear section 5, comprising two end walls,first and second opposing side walls and a rear or back wall which isopposite the cover. The walls of the rear section 5 form boundaries forcontaining the twenty cigarettes. Other numbers of cigarettes canalternatively be contained.

The cover 2 and the rear section 5 comprise a rigid material such ascardboard and are hingedly joined by means of a hinged portion 6. Thehinged portion 6 may, for example, connect the rear wall or an end wallof the package 1 to the cover 2.

The first and second internal regions 3.1 and 3.2 are separated from oneanother by a partition, which may comprise a thin rigid wall 4 betweenthe two ends of the package 1. When the cover 2 is closed, the partition4 keeps the two regions 3.1, 3.2 separate by hermetically sealing withthe rear section 5 and cover 2 to thereby avoid the impregnation offlavour into the second region 3.2 from the first region 3.1 or viceversa.

When closed, the package therefore provides a separation between thecigarettes located in the first region 3.1 and those located in thesecond region 3.2.

The cover 2 has a slit 7 adapted for receiving the aromatic chip or card3. For example, the width of the slit 7 may be substantially equal tothat of the aromatic chip 3 so that the chip 3 is a close fit when slidinto the slit 7. The slit 7 may also include two rail elements 8 and 9.The slit 7 is provided with flavour release elements, such as grooves,that damage the chip 3 upon insertion of the chip 3 into the slit. Forexample, as referred to previously, the grooves may rupturemicrocapsules on the chip 3 which contain one or more flavourants. Theflavourants are then released from the chip 3 into the package 1.

The chip 3 can be secured to the underside of the cover 2 by means ofthe rail elements 8 and 9, so that it faces the contents of the package1 when inserted into the cover 2. Upon being inserted through the slit 7provided with the grooves, the chip 3 tears thereby causing a number ofmicrocapsules comprised in a special ink (with the aromaticmicrocapsules) to open. As previously discussed, this allows flavour tobe released onto the cigarettes.

The release of flavour may be confined to products contained in one orother of the first and second regions 3.1, 3.2 of the package 1. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the slit 7 in which the chip or card3 can be received may be located directly above or adjacent to the firstregion 3.1 of the package 1. Therefore, flavours released from the chipor card 3 when it is inserted into the cover 2 enter the first region3.1 but are prevented from entering the second region 3.2 by thehermetically sealed partition 4 separating the first and second regions3.1, 3.2. The slit 7 may of course alternatively be located above oradjacent to the second region 3.2 so that flavour is released into thesecond region 3.2 but not the first region 3.1. Following the release offlavour, the cigarettes may be allowed to remain inside the firstinternal region 3.1 of the package 1 for a given period of time to allowthe flavour released thereupon to impregnate them. Given the presence ofthe thin wall 4 that separates the first region 3.1 from the secondregion 3.2, the cigarettes contained in the second region 3.2 are notimpregnated and maintain the original characteristics of the productacquired from the manufacturer.

The flavour of the cigarettes in the first region 3.1 may be only subtlychanged so that the change it not overt. The flavour change may be suchthat, although it can be perceived by the consumer, it is notnecessarily noticed without due attention. For example, a smoker smokinga cigarette which has been impregnated with flavour from the chip orcard 3 may not initially notice that the flavour of the cigarette and orsmoke is different to normal. The flavour change may be perceived by theunconscious part of the brain rather than the conscious. However, theflavour change may be so as to improve the overall smoking experience.

Although a specific type of cigarette package is described above, theinvention is applicable to any tobacco industry package into which achip or card can be inserted to release flavourant to tobacco industryproducts contained in the package.

1. A package for tobacco industry products comprising: an apertureconfigured to receive a flavor carrier; and one or more flavor releaseelements configured to rupture a surface of the flavor carrier uponinsertion of the flavor carrier into the aperture so as to cause theflavor carrier to release flavor into an internal region of a packagefor impregnating contents of the package with the flavor.
 2. The packageaccording to claim 1, wherein the aperture is in a cover of the package.3. The package according to claim 1, wherein the aperture comprises aslit having dimensions substantially matching those of the flavorcarrier.
 4. The package according to claim 1, wherein the aperturecomprises a pair of rail elements configured to guide the flavor carrierinto the aperture.
 5. The package according to claim 4, wherein the oneor more flavor release elements comprise grooves in the apertureconfigured to rupture the surface of the flavor carrier to cause arelease of flavor.
 6. The package according to claim 1, wherein thepackage comprises an internal partition which separates an internalvolume of the package into first and second regions for containing firstand second subsets of tobacco industry products.
 7. The packageaccording to claim 6, wherein the internal partition is configured toprevent flavor released from the flavor carrier from passing between thefirst and second regions of the package.
 8. The package according toclaim 6, wherein the aperture is located adjacent one of the first orsecond regions such that, upon flavor being released from the flavorcarrier, flavor is released into the region adjacent the aperture. 9.The package according to claim 1, further comprising the flavor carrier.10. The package according to claim 9, wherein the flavor carriercomprises a flavorant on its surface.
 11. The package according to claim10, wherein the flavorant is contained in microcapsules at a surface ofthe flavor carrier, the microcapsules being rupturable upon contact withthe one or more flavor release elements to release flavor into thepackage.
 12. The package according to claim 1, wherein the flavorcarrier is a chip or card with dimensions substantially matching thoseof the aperture.
 13. The package according to claim 1, comprising aplurality of smoking articles which can be impregnated by the flavorrelease to cause a change in the flavor of one or more of the smokingarticles.
 14. The package for aromatizing cigarettes, comprising acover; a rear section and a flavor carrier, wherein the flavor carriercomprises a chip impregnated with a flavor and wherein the covercomprises: an aperture to receive the flavor carrier, the aperturecomprising a slit of the same width of the chip; and two rail elementsto secure the chip to a lower part of the cover, wherein the said slitcomprises grooves configured to damage the chip upon insertion of thechip into the slit, thereby causing tears to open a number ofmicrocapsules comprised in an ink on the chip, thereby releasing flavorfrom the microcapsules onto cigarettes stored in a portion of thepackage.
 15. The package, as claimed in claim 14, wherein the cover andthe rear section comprise a rigid material and are hingedly joined by ahinge portion located at a back or rear part of the package.
 16. Thepackage, as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a first regionconfigured to be impregnated with flavor and a second region notimpregnated with flavor, thereby allowing the impregnation of the flavorinto one or more cigarettes in the first region; such regions beingseparated by a thin rigid wall which, upon the cover being closed,separating the two regions by hermetic sealing, thereby avoidingimpregnation of flavor from the first region into the second region. 17.A package for tobacco industry products comprising: an apertureconfigured to receive a flavor carrier; and one or more flavor releaseelements configured to rupture a surface of the flavor carrier uponinsertion of the flavor carrier into the aperture so as to cause theflavor carrier to release flavor into an internal region of a packagefor impregnating contents of the package with the flavor and wherein theone or more flavor release elements comprise grooves in the apertureconfigured to rupture the surface of the flavor carrier to cause arelease of flavor.